I OPENED MY EYES, even with how heavy it was to lift my eyelids. The sun was up and shining its bright rays through the window, into my room. The smell of baked dough that settled in my apartment rushed for my nose as I breathed in but my mouth didn't water. Instead, I felt disgusted.

"You're up?" I heard Samantha ask as I tussled a little on the bed.

"No," I softly said.

"Then how the hell are you talking? Girl, get up."

I begrudgingly sat up on the bed and stared at Samantha who was sitting on the couch with a cookie in her mouth.

"Now, what?" I asked.

"Would you like some cookies?" She asked in return.

I rubbed my eyes, "Where's Scott?"

"Would you like some cookies?" Samantha repeated in a more stern tone.

I knew better than to ignore her question again.

I itched my head, "Whatever."

She got up and made for the kitchen. In about a minute, she walked back into the room, gently carrying a ceramic plate full of cookies and some random sugary junk.

She dropped them on the bed beside me, then placed a glass of milk on the table, "I brought some milk for you to wash it down. I've got chocolate too."

"Why are you feeding me sweets?" I asked.

"Don't you know already? I intend to poison you," she said with the most sarcastic tone, then rolled her eyes, "Of course, I'm feeding you with sugar to lighten up your mood. Read a book, will you?"

She picked up one of the cookies from the plate and sat down back on the couch.

"So, what happened with Scott yesterday?" I asked again.

"No 'thank you'? Hey, I know the age difference isn't that much but you should at least have some respect for me, you know?"

"Are you trying to avoid my question?"

Samantha itched the back of her neck, avoiding my question again.

"Why don't you want to tell me what happened with Scott yesterday? I slept off in his arms," I continued.

Argh, shit! That was so embarrassing.

"I don't think that happened. Maybe it was a dream?" Samantha lifted her hand like she was answering a question.

"Stop it, Samantha. I don't have time for silly jokes right now. If it was a dream, then why can't I remember walking into the apartment to lie down?"

She dropped her hand, "Fine. Since you want to start talking about negative shit first thing after you wake."

"Yeah, I do," I said, using the same tone as she did.

She eyed me.

"First off, who's that guy?" She asked.

"Scott? He's a new friend of mine."

"All masked up and stuff? What if he's the guy that's been stalking you? Don't you have any sense of security at all?"

Any stranger that saw Samantha at this moment would think that she was my mom, not my sister who was only three years older than me.

"Are you trying to lecture me over the people I choose as friends?" I asked with a little frown on my face.

"Yes, because tell me why you're befriending someone that you don't know shit about," she said with a little British accent seeping into her speech.

"Who says I don't know shit about him?"

"Okay, then. What does he look like?" She stared at me, waiting for my response, "Of course you don't know. I asked him last night how to reach him when you wake up this morning and he said he'll find his way to you. He didn't drop his full name or where he schools, nothing! You don't know anything about this guy, so how sure are you that he's not the stalker?"

"Devin's much shorter than him and they don't even sound alike. You've seen Scott's eyes too, right? Devin has onyx eyes, not blue. Yeah, it once felt like I've seen him somewhere before but I'm sure he's not Devin. Scott just has issues with showing people his face."

Samantha stared at me, clenching her lips together, "Okay, he might not be Devin but what if he's like some kind of a serial killer or something?"

"What? Now you're just exaggerating. I was the one who grew up reading dark romance and thrillers but you're the one with the wild imagination. He's not a serial killer, okay? If he was, I'd have died like six days ago when I first met him. Plus, Annabelle and Scarlett know him too... kind of."

Samantha stared at me suspiciously.

"Ugh! What?" I yelled, "Just tell me what happened last night with him."

She ate the last chunk of cookie she was holding, then dusted her hands. And there I was, watching her do all that instead of telling me what I desperately wanted to know.

"I was coming back from a night stroll when I saw you two, and he handed you over then left," she finally started, "I was so scared at first. You weren't moving, so I thought you were dead," she laughed, then stopped as she noticed that my expression was numb.

"What made you cry so horribly, anyway?" She asked.

I broke the cookie in my hand into two and stared at the halves, letting the events of the previous night fill my thoughts.

"You were right about everything," I started, "I don't know why I keep doubting you anytime you tell me not to go into something."

"What's this about? Did something happen again?"

I slid my gaze from my broken cookie to her face which was brimming with concern. I forced my lips into a sad smile and watched her expression turn horrified as I said the words.

"It's about Thomas."

"Don't tell me," she said with a fearful gaze, "Did he..."

"Yes. I don't know why I expected him to be any different, they're brothers after all. Thomas cheated on me, just like Lucian did to you in high school."

Samantha took a deep breath and stared at the rug. It seemed like the horrid memories of what she tried so hard to forget were flooding into her mind again. She was strong because I knew quite alright that if I were the one in her shoes, my response would be much worse than this.

I could remember hearing her cry horribly in her room that day as I stood outside the closed door. I couldn't bring myself to go in because I was embarrassed for her. I had seen my sister's leaked photos on the school's website after closing and had gone to search for her when I saw her outside her classroom, tearfully watching her boyfriend kiss someone else. Not just anyone, her best friend.

I could remember even more vividly how she had tried to change my mind- three months after the dreadful incident- when I told her that I had fallen in love with her ex's brother and was going to date him. I had insulted her in return that night and called her selfish for not wanting me to experience love because of what happened to her.

The final words of Samantha on I and Thomas's relationship kept ringing in my ears.

"Fine. If you're going to ignore the fact that I got humiliated online by Lucian Archer and date his brother, then go ahead. Have so much fun loving him but don't consider me family anymore."

All that happened about five years ago but it was still so clear that one could easily believe that it happened yesterday. I was preparing to resume tenth grade while Samantha was packing the last of her things to go to University. She travelled to London the following morning after our altercation and, of course, with the mindset of her last words to me.

"I wanted to believe that it was a lie and that his friend was just trying to mess with me but everything was falling into place," I said, seeping back into the present and staring at my poor sister, "The days I'd see him smiling at his phone, the times he'd make up silly excuses to leave abruptly, how his friends didn't consider me as one of them and how he was only present when he wanted something from me. The signs were subtle but they were there. I should have listened back when you told me to stay away from him. Then, it wouldn't have hurt this much."

Samantha said nothing. All she did was stare at the rug as she continuously scratched her thumb with her index. It gave me enough opportunity to think about how foolish I was throughout my life but the annoying thing was that some part of me still wanted Thomas to genuinely love me. I really wanted this reality to be a lie.

"Wendy," Samantha's voice sprang up after a while.

"Yeah?" I sniffled, wiping my tears.

"Cheating; was that the only thing Thomas did to you?" She asked.

I could not bring myself to answer that question. How would I tell her that Thomas was sharing the intimate times we had and making bets about sleeping with me against my insecurity? How could I tell her that Thomas had humiliated me in front of his friends just as Lucian had posted her nudes on the school's social board? How could I remind her of the reason why she had to run away from her neighbourhood out of shame and study in a totally different continent? How could I tell her that what she feared the most in my relationship with Thomas had happened?

Noting my lack of response, Samantha got up from the couch, "Where does he stay?"

I sprang up also, "What are you planning to do?"

She zipped one of her luggage open and drew out a leather jacket, "You'll find out. Either from the cops or from the news, you gon' find out somehow."

"Samantha, stop."

Samantha glared at me, "Stop what? The motherfucker did shitty stuff to you and you want me to just stay here and listen to you cry about it. I'm going to find him, with or without your help."

She picked up her red purse from the dresser and stormed out of the apartment.

"Samantha!" I yelled as she slammed the door behind her.

I rushed for the door and tried to open it as I heard the sound of the lock but it didn't budge.

I banged on the door, "Samantha, open the door!"

I ran to the window by my work desk and saw her menacingly walking out of the building as she held her phone against her ear.

"Samantha!" I yelled.

She ignored me and walked down the alley.

"Argh, shit!" I cussed and ran to my bed to check for my phone.

I scrolled through my contacts and clicked on Annabelle's number.

"Please, pick up. Please, pick up," I prayed.

"Your sister just called," Annabelle immediately said as she picked up the call.

"What did she say?" I panicked.

"Was Thomas really cheating on you?"

"Yes, yes, but what does Samantha want to do? Did she tell you?"

"She's going to his house and she has called Scarlett to join her."

My jaw dropped. Scarlett?

"Anna, you have to stop them," I pressured, "You know how violent they get individually, now imagine them doing something like this together. You have to get them to calm down."

"I'm not stopping them," she said.

"What?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not stopping them. In fact, I'm getting dressed right now to drive them to his apartment. Thomas was cheating on you while you were defending him from all our allegations. Doesn't that bug you? I know you're love-struck and blinded by your idea of him but don't you feel fooled in the slightest? If you don't, we do. We feel insulted on your behalf, so just let us be."

With that, she ended the call. I stared at my phone screen, scheming through her caller ID like I was just seeing it for the first time. I slowly slid my gaze over to the mirror and saw how swollen my eyes were. My face was puffy and my lips were dry. I looked dead.

You know what? I'm in on this confrontation too. Beat his ass real good.

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Tip: Because of the issue of wanting to date Thomas, Wendy and Samantha spent three years apart without any form of communication.